Weston School's Kitchen Classroom Comes to Life

In November this year, Weston School celebrated a significant milestone with the official opening of their new Kitchen Classroom. This innovative learning space represents a transformative addition to the school, offering students unprecedented opportunities to develop practical life skills, explore food production, and connect with their community.

The Kitchen Classroom is a purpose-built facility designed to be a versatile learning environment. Equipped with three fully functional kitchens, each featuring hot plates, ovens, and rangehoods, the space provides students with a safe and professional setting to learn cooking, food preparation, and kitchen science. Strategic storage areas and well-designed workspaces ensure that teachers and students can easily access and utilise the facility.

Beyond basic cooking skills, the Kitchen Classroom opens up exciting possibilities for student learning and engagement. Students can now explore biotechnology opportunities, utilise their existing tunnel house, and potentially develop small product lines. The space will be particularly valuable for students with additional needs, offering them a dedicated area to develop essential life skills.

The classroom perfectly complements the school's existing Enviro School programme. Students already propagate native plants and grow produce like garlic, and now they can take their learning further by creating products such as relishes, chutneys, and sauces from their tunnel house tomatoes. The facility will support various school activities, from sausage sizzles to student-led fundraising efforts and community celebrations.

Perhaps most importantly, the Kitchen Classroom embodies the school's commitment to holistic education. It provides opportunities for students to learn about food origins, develop cooking skills, share meals, and connect with the community. Whether it's preparing a Community Breakfast during Matariki, hosting a meal for parents, or creating a thank you afternoon tea for volunteers, the space promises to be a vibrant hub of learning and connection.

Weston School has created more than just a kitchen – they've established a dynamic learning environment that empowers students, celebrates local produce, and strengthens community bonds.

Taylor Cromwell, a Year 8 at Weston school showed off some of her outcomes from the Food Tech class. Her mum Sarah said “it was a delight having Taylor bring home treats from the kitchen classroom all last week. She has also been talking about how to get more nutrients into her breakfast, so it’s nice to know she gets more from the tech week than from us trying to drill it into her!”.